Level winder for reels



Mar. 20, 1923.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 4 RUfifilbi" .Jamwl? 57 6637 J. P. BREEN. LEVEL WINDERFOR HEELS.

FILED OCT 22 192] liiliil" Mar. 20,1923. 1,448,786.

J P. B H E E N LEVEL WIND ER FOR HEELS.

FILED OCT, 22, 1921. 2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

Patented Mar. 2Q, 1923.

STAYS LEVEL WINDER rortrtnnris.

Application filed October 22, 1921. Serial No. 509,519.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Janus P. BnnnN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rockport, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts;have invented certain new and useful Improvements in LevelWinders for Reels, of which'the following is a speci tication.

This invention relates to improvements in level-winders for fishingreels. More particularly it relates to the apparatus used for making amore or less level coil on the reel when the line is being drawn in, insuch manner that the line will unwind freely when cast. In the absenceof special apparatus it has heretofore been necessary for the fishermanto grasp the rod with his left hand above the reel, in order to guidethe incoming line with the thumb and forefinger of this hand whileturning the crank with his right hand; and under these circumstances theleft hand has to be aided by thrusting the butt end of the rod againstthe front of the fishermans body in an attitude'and with results whichproduce discomfort especially when long continued. Various devices havebeen proposed to provide a movable thread guide for the incoi'ning linethat can be controlled by ones thumb while holding the rod near thebutt, in which case one would be able to hold the rod with one handalone; but none of these have provenpracticable so far as I am aware.The present invention is an improvement, in that while it provides aguide for the incoming line operable by the thumb of a person holding arod near the butt with his left hand alone, the whole is so arrangedthat when the line is cast the line passes out freely without anyretarding contact with the guide such as has been present in devicesproposed for this purpose heretofore. The automatic transfer of the linefrom thus running free, when cast. to the guided restraint for levelwinding when drawn in is another feature; also the means by which theline is at all instants under control to be entered in the guide.

@ther features make the device readily applicable to existing reels. aswell as new reels: make it easily attachable to and detachable from suchreels and provide the .ll'l'll'JlOYGlllElltS and advantages in otherreheets wiich comprise the apparatus described.

These objects are accomplished by provid ing line guide which consistsof a large loop of wire whose bight normally stands stationary opposltethe space through which the line runs, when cast, as it unwinds from thereel and runs to and fro from side to side over the surface of the spoolin so doing. The loop is large enough to overlie approximately the wholeor" this entire space. In the lower part of this loop is a notch whichconstitutes a guide for theline when the line is being drawn in andwound. Said notch may normally stand, unused, below the level at whichthe line unwinds when cast; but for use it is raised above the level.The tension on the line then draws the line into the notch; and there ismeans by which the person holding the rod can shuttle the guide back andforth across the face of the reel, with the thumb of his hand which isholding the rod while the other hand is engaged in turning the crank.The said means is a conveniently placed thumb lever; and it is a furtherfeature ofthe invention that this normally stands up at the rear of thereel in position to be easily depressed and swung back and forth, andwhen released is automatically returned to the position in which theline lies. freely in the large portion of the loop. The combined leverandloop element is mounted pivotally and'slidably on the base frame ofthe reel, by providing a long narrow slot in a curved middle portion ofthe lever. through which slot'passes the stem of a T-headed fulcrumfixed on the mounting-base of the reel. The lever can slide past thisT-head longitudinally of the rod to turn its front portion upward andbackward, and can swing to right and left. when properly pushed by onesthumb. l fhen the thumb lever is depressed the thumb part comes downinto a position of approximate parallelism with the rod, in which, bythe changed leverage, only a short sideswingingof the thumb is necessaryto make the desired to and fro swinging of the notch guide; on somewhatfurther slipping through the slot, it is possible to disengage the partsin order to demount the reel and winder.

Otherfeatures of the invention will appear upon'consideration of thespecific embodiment thereof which is shown herein as an illustration ofthe construction and use of the apparatus. It will be understood thatvariations may be made from the specific construction illustratedwithout departing from the scope of the invention. It is of Figure 7,

intended that the patent shall cover by suitable expression in theappended claims wherever features of patent-able novelty exist in theinvention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a secs tion of fishing rod with areel thereon and with a device embodying the invention attached theretoinits normal position, as when ready for casting;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the rod, showing side of thereel withthe attachment of the invention in the same position as in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, but in medial section on theline 33 of Figure at, and with the guide arranged in position fordrawing in the line;

Figure 4 is a view corresponding to Figure 2 but showing the partsarranged as in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan of the lever anchguide element of the invention;

Figure 6 is a perspective of the fulcrum plate by which the device shownin Figure 5 is securedin place on the reel;

Figure 7 is a diagram of a blank ing the device of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a plan showing a modified form of fulcrum plate andlever-andguide element; I

Figure 9 is a side view of the'device shown in Figure 8, with additionalguiding element;

Figure 10 is a perspective of the fulcrum plate shown in Figures 8 and9;

Figure 11 is a perspective showing another style of spring and thumbpiece;

Figure 12 is a perspective, considerably enlarged, showing a stillfurther modification of the fulcrum plate and associated parts; and

Figure 13 is a view showing a modified form of a detail.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates a fishing rod which may be ofany suitable style, and 11 is the base plate for securin the reelthereon, fa stening means of the well known slip ring type being shown.The reel may be of any suitable type, as, for examand as illustrated, ofthat type in. which the winding barrel 12 is driven through concealedgearing and a crank 13 by crank handle 1 1,

A fulcrum for the attachment of the in vention is provided by means of aplate 20, seen in Figure 6 which may be formed fr in a blank seen inFigure? by rolling up the ends of a U-shaped piece as at 21, so thatthey will hook over one of the cross pieces 15 of the reel which lies atthe bottom next to the base, and by turning up a stub T end 22 which hasbeen cut flat in the form 22 so that when turned up and:in--

T-headed fulcrum,

for makstalled it constitutes a the leg of whose T is perpendicular tothe axis of the rod and the head of whose T con- 7 stitutes a couple oflugs facing toward the axis of the rod. This being installed under themiddle of the reel, with the fulcrum head standing up, thelever-and-guide mem ber may be associated with it. The latter mayconveniently be made from a pieceot stiff wire bent into the shapeillustrated in Figures 1, 3, and 5. end, a broad and wide loop extendinglaterally from the stem 31; and has at the rear a portion 32 adapted tobe engaged friction ally by ones thumb, these forward and rear partsbeing connected 33 extending longitudinally thereof and wide enough forthe pin constituted by the leg part of the T-fulcruni 22 to slide alongit. At its rear end a narrowing of the slot, at 3a, makes it somewhatdiflicult for said leg of the T to pass to the very end of the slotwhere is an enlargement of width 35 through which even the head of the Tcan be passed. This provides means for the insertion of the T fulcrumfor travel in the middle and for ward end of slot, between positionsillus trated in Figures 2 and 3. The part of the stem between the slotand the loop 30 may have solder or other device to strengthen andstiffen the whole, and to smooth round notch or throat 35' at the beginning of the loop, on the lower side thereof. This forms a guide forthe line, when the line'runs therein. The loop, as seen in Figure 2, isapproximately large enough to leave the entire space opposite the barrelopen for the line to play back and forth from end to end of the barrel,withouthindrance of any sort; and when the apparatus stands at rest theloop is at such elevation that the lower corner notch 35 thereof is toolow for the line to run into it naturally, and is also too far to oneside. It is held in this position by the means provided for positioningthe lever.

. When the lever is assembled with the T- headed fulcrum, as seen bestin Figure 2, the lever, which is preferably curved in the shape seen inprofile in Figures 1 and 3 can be swung to the right and left about theleg of the T as can readily be understood from Figure 2. It can also heslid forward, away from the eye of the observer in Figure 2, by pressingthe thumb piece 32 toward the fulcrum. The curvature is such that thelever slides easily from the position of Figures. 1 and 2 to that ofFigure 3, where the. fulcrum is in the middle of the slot 33; and in sodoing the curvature of the section of stem, atthe place where theslotis, gives whole stem and loop a sort of revolving direction, aboutthe axis of the reel, in which the forward end v3O swings upward and,backward ;:tOW&1Cl the reel to the position shown in Figure 3. Thisaction is insured This has, at its forward by a stem with slot 59:

provide a by provision of a spring 36, which may be a light spiralspring, hooked at one of the base rods of the reel; so that when thelever 1S portion backward toward the reel. lVhen the lever is releasedthis spring returns the lever and loop to the position oi Figures 1 and,2. ll hen onedepresses the thumb piece 32 he naturally moves his thumbover to the middle of the rod as seen in Figure 4; in such cas liiecauseot the fulcrum 22, the notch 35 is swung around from its extreme sideposition (Figure 2) to a middle posi tion (l' igure 3) and thereby thespring is stretched; so that, when the parts are released, the S}')1l1lg36 also tends to draw the notch 35 over to position at the side of, aswell as below, the level at which the line unwinds from the barrel. beattained by provif a spring at another place, the bein umrlced 4:6, andconnected from one end of the rnidheight rear cross bar 16 of the re iito a. linl: 4:? near the thumb end of the lever. Preferably this spring;also is a spiral spring, but on account of the small space into which itmust collapse it may be inede offlat metal like a clock spring; and maybe pulled out into a. cone shape as illustrated, the end heinp; eitherdown, as illustrated, or next to the bar 16, as may be most convenient.If preferred, and as illustrated, both oi? these springs may be used onthe same apparatus. In another figure of the drawing still an otherspring is illustrated. which may supplant both of these.

ln use, a men lets the device alone while costing. The loop thenoccupies the position seen in Figure 2, and lets the line run outfreel", and absolutely without any retardation because oi its presence;and there is plenty of room to e'et his right thumb on the lee as abrake, 0n beginning to draw in the line by turning the crank 14;, withone hand, holding the rod in his other hand, in this case the left hand,at the butt of the rod whe e the whole balances well so that he canmanage the rod with one hand, the user pu s his thumb on the thumb pieceocpr F: and thus raises the lower limb oi the oop 3 :1 sinst and co. theline to l the lowest'oart of the loop, which we notch l the notch 35 toswing near enmurh to the line so that the line slips into it Itpreferred the lower part the loop 30 may ho mode sloping sliijrhtlytoward the notch so i reuse the line to s ip in more readily. eitherevent the tension then holds the oe down in the notch and that notchthereore es 'de l. r the line and leads the line to and fro to differentparts of the barone end to a little ring 3? provided for it next to thenotch 35, and at its other end fastened to pushed forward the spring 36,extended thereby, draws the top or loop similar end may,

stern 51 between the fulcruinplste 5 By pusbing' the user causes soonerarrested by the ens back to the position oi? Figure 2, end the 3apparatus becomes ready for casting;

lt is desirable that apparatus of thissort should bereadilydeinoiintsble. This i vided in the case of Figures l6 by i it.the springs 38 and 4:6 attached firmly s end and merely hooked in pl.the other end, and by making the lever detachable from the fulcrumT-head holder as above described. To get the fulcrum 22 out of the wavwhen the lever has been demouin and it is desired to wind the reel'liull. only necessary to throw it over on its h j 2] from the positionshown 12 full lines in Figure 3 to tiat shown in dotted lines.

In the apparatus illustrated no e :1 shrine: to with the righthai ustthen transfer the rod to the left hand for the winding to beniadefwiththe rig i The invention provides mean by which one may castand hold b-vthe same hand he 9%,) illustrated this would be the lefthand; but it would be simple change to have the thumb lever bound overto 1c ricght of the rod, in which case the notch 35' would be mode atthe left and theloop would be re- L 5 versed in direction therefrom; sothat one could cast and hold with his right hand, without having): toshift, and would then wiinlwith his left hand.

Al modification is shown in llin ure 8 in which the function of sprine sm, and id is served by a spiral spring; 56 coiled on and the thumb piece58; In this case there is place of the downward feces of the .1

no slot 33 in the stem, but the tulcruin plate its and side feces of theT-leiz' ht FUlWImIE /Q, In both cases it is a pin and slot niouuti eThere 15, however a, 3601511 device for cziusi l I, 1 9

1D,? the normal position or the thunio rest This 53 tobe over at oneside oi the ree consists of a hip; whose tip m" st: n little distancefrom the stein base is further along on the when the spring; i odrewsthe st m ward the base of the hip; can continue move after the lee-dingend of he uff has, encount the fulcrum pinto, end it! thereby beenarresteo The motioned oz lion oi? the spring; then swin the lever,around the obstructed low he lug, so that it comes to rest an a! theaxis of the rod equal to them the lug makes with the stem -on vl l 5 and i which has become oblique lilo ably preferable is shown rest themajor .tions of the spring.

apparatus is demounted by removing the thumb rest from the spring". inFigures 8 and 9 these-are represer d if a terminal tongue 59 on thelever were screwed into the thumb piece. .lin arrai ement that is probinEipnu'e ll, where the spring holds itself and tie thumb on the stem 51detachably. l he thumb rest in this modification is a piece of sheetmetal whose rear is bent down to form flange and whose has twoside cars53" which are bent downward and then bent underneath it to form a sortof tube into which the the flat stem 51 can be thrust till i. end isstopped by the rear flange Thus the thumb piece houses the end of thestem. Forward of this housing; are edge notches 51 in the stem, largeenough to receive the wire of the sprin Therear end of the ellipticalspring is secured, by solder, to the thumb plate; d the three or fourelliptical convolutions of the spring which are just forward of thethumb plate are given a permanent set so that their major axes stand atan angle of some 80 or so with axes of the remaining convolulVhen theflat stem is thrust into the springit slips easily along throuoh all theforward convolutions ther which ought of, and if the user with the thumband linger pinches the rearpart of the spring so that those convolutionsare twisted into line with the forward ones, it also slips easilythrough the rear until stopped by the flange 58. l fhen the userreleases the rear convolutions of the spring, they cant to their setangle; more or less of them engage in the notches 51; and these hold thespring and thumb piece to the stem. The stem is removable easily if theoperator pinchesthem again into parallelism with the forwardconvolutions.

In the form illustrated in Figures the lever is shown pivoted exactly inmiddle under the reel, but in Figures 8 and 9 the fulcrum is under therear cross bar of the reel. In the latter case the depression ofthethumb rest may tend to swing the forward part of the stem into the zoneoccupied by the winding on the reel, or to be left free to receive thewinding. Figure 12 illustrates means t ia-t may be used to avoid that byarranging a light bar or wire parallel to and over the 1% i the forwardbottom cross rod 15 of the reel so the lever may be inserted between itand this cross rod. This prevents the forward part of the lever fromswinging direct-ly upward about the fulcrum, and requires it to slideforward when the thumb piece is depressed,

that

forward end in which'case it can rise no higher into reelingspace thanis predetermined by the curvature thereof. .lts own curvature causes itto rise as it slides forward A similar effect may be gained by providinga guide underneath the lever at the rear of the fulcrum, at the spacemarked 66. Both of these are illustrated for the sake of showing theidea, but only one of which need be used in case it is desired to usethis feature. lin this case the transverse slot formed by the forwardguide 65 should be longer than the fulcrum slot o-l in order toaccommodate the side swinging of the stem, and the lug 57, shown inFigure 12, as a pin, should be set forward of the forward guide 65.

, in both of the forms illustrated thethumb rest is shown at one sidewhen in a position of rest. lhis is in order to leave the rear faceofthe reel accessible sothat the person casting the line can use histhuii'ib in the customary manner as a brake on the line which is woundon the reel. If the thumb rest were to stand normally central with theline'guiding notch correspondi; central,

the shape of the loop 30 of Fig 2 would be more like a l tter 'l, withrespect to the line uid a notch vhosc top 18 open, to above the level ofwinding, and has sufficient ie mid top opening for the line to :lav and,forth across the face of the i reel substuntially without moving thenotch, and is arrar J d for the line to pass easily into and Oll'o ofthe notch, combined with means to move the notch baclr and forth acrossface of the reel. 2. Pin tachment for a reel comprising, a line nuiuconsisting; of an element having notch whose top is open, to above thelevel of 0rd iarv winding, arranged for the line to pars easily into andout of the notch; said notci being; open into a l: j loop whose i isabove the level of ordinary winding and which extends crosswise of theface of the reel, the by permitting unretarded runl in attach. tor areel comprising j of an element having is open, m anon ire c\e irvwinding. arranged for the line ass easily into and out of the notch,coni- \itll menus to move the notch back h across the face of the reel;and raising and, lowering the notch in An attachment for a reelcomprising a guide consisting of an element having a notch whose tooopen to above the level of ordirmiry winding, arranged for the line topass essil -x into d out of the notch, combined with to move the notchack and to? olding the notch; said .ngrrtudinally and there 1 deviceretaining it in posiiiunitting it to slide andto turn v to and .tro. Vutta-:.:lnnent for a reel comprising a line guide consistin oi anelement having :1. notch whose top s open, to shove the level oiordinary 'vviudillgl. to pass easily into and out o1 the notch, cornoinl lever for operating solid eleu hzis retaining means permitting; the toswing and to slide.

'lil attachment tor a fishing reel com- 7. u tulcrum uiran ed betweenthe barrel ot the reel and the rod combined with :1 lever secureuil to arod at said tulcruin; thWlSe of the rod, having;- a thumbrest at itsrear and a line guide lt'orward and having a connection with Moi-uniadapted to permit the lever to slide and to swing.

7, An attacl'nnent for u l isl'iing reel comrisin+ a liulcruin arrangedbetween the bari e reel and the ro h combined with a l: ver secured tothe red at said jiiulcruni; said le ver extend inn" f 1 thumb rest itsreur and a line guide :lorwzu'd and having a connection with the implied"for movement of the lever nd back, with respect to the fulcrum auo.there being elastic means tending to maintain the lever in its rearposition; tin-kl iueuus whereby the forward position is line guidingposition and the rear position is non-guiding.

8. An :ittaclnnenttor a fishing reel coinprising a fulcrum arrangedbetween the barrel of the reel and the rod, combined with a leversecured to the rod at seidfulcruin; saii'l lever extending lengthwise ofthe. rod, having a thumb rest its rear and a line guide forward andhaving connection with the fulcrum udupted for movement of the leverforward and back; the said lever being curved at its mid 'lle portionapproximately to an are around the axis of the reel, whereby the forwardsliding of the lever past the fulcrum causes its forward end to turn upward into line guiding position opposite the barrel.

9. An attachment for a fishing reel comprising a curved line-guidinglever fulcrunied between the reel and the rod hava rear thumb rest piecefor its control rind adapted to slide into line guiding position wleuthe thumb piece is depressed and away from line guiding position whenthe thumb piece is released.

10. in attachmentfor a fishing reel cointhe taco the reel,

arranged for the line ping: it at the rear combined with a lengthwise ofthe rod hav prising: a line gruidehaviug two positions 't' rwurd of i: Ieel one of which 2. line ,3 'dinn; position inwhich it is movable to rht and left and the other which a nonline guidingposition in unich itperni ree pussagre of the line; and

min one to the other 0: one: the

sides the saiiil l pread widely enough to rind nns which the line mu};occ iline guide is in non-line i. posi i ho eb v on coming into gn linpositio; it embraces the line in any a tree pzzssuue positions.

11. An uttuchnie end rod which holds the reel, having at line guideforward and a thumb piece for actuatspring engaged between the rod andthe lever and tending to more the lever out or? guiding position, saidermine being arranged to oppose movement iin 'iarted to the leverthrough the thumb piece.

An attachment for a fishing reel conr prising a lever fulcrurned betweenthe rec and rodwhich holds the reel, having a line guide :torwsrd end athumb piece for actuating it at the rec A combined with :1 springbetween the rear oi the lever and at part of the reel tending to pushthe thumb pieces rearwarth and means for swinging the forward guide toone side.

14-, An attachment for a fishing; reel comprising a lever tulcruinedbetween the reel and rod which holds the reel, having a line guideforward and a thumb piece toructuatingz; it at the rear, combined with aspring strung on the rear part oil the lever, between the fulcrum andthe thumb piece and tending to move it backward; there being a lug;- onthe lever arranged forward of the tulcruin support end projecting towardrear 01'? the lever and laterally outward therefrom, and adapted toengage a fixed part when the lever is driven backward by said springwherebv the further pressure oi the spring swings thelever crosswise ofthe rods.

10. An attachment for e, fishing reelcoinprising a lever fulcruinedbetween the reel and rod which holdsithe reel having? a line guidetorwurd, a lug rearward of the line guide and forward of the fulcrum andnotches in its urtace, still further to the rear, a thumb piece foractuating the lever adapted to he slipped onto its rear end, and asin-in; strung" on the rear part of the lever, attached rigidly to saidthumb piece and having; o'l'eet coils adapted to engage the said notcheswhereby the force of the spring tends to hold the lever rearward withits lug Inst the fulcrum, and holds the thumb piece in position on thelever.

16. An attachment for a fishing reel cornprising a lever having a lineguide forward and stein extending rearward over cross pieces of the reela guide for said lever associated with one of said cross pieces adaptedto permit the lever to slide, a spring exerting force on said sternrearward of said guide tending to move the lever backward;

there being means on said stern engaging Sflhl guide to limit therearward movement of the lever.

17. An attachment for a fiehing reel comprising; a leer having alineguiding; loop forward and a let stein extending backward therefrom,with alug rearward oi the loop and with notches; inits edges; a guideassociated with a cross piece of the reel for positioning; the lerer andfor ooaetion with the lug); for limiting}; the l aoirward movement ofthe leve and a s1 'inp; strung on said stein rearward of the guidehaving; 0 convolutions adapted to engage said notches, whereby the forceof the spring tends to maintain the stem with the lug: a inst the guide,but yields under ertern pressure to permit forward movement the loopinto line guiding position.

Signed at lioston, l 'lassaehusetts, this seventeenth day of (lotoher,1921.

JAlEHQFS l

